Ron Pampero is typically known by Venezuelan’s as “Caballito Frenao” (literal translation “The Restrained Horse”). Which is guess explains in part the man astride a white horse on it red label (though it shows no sign of restraints).For those unfamiliar with Venezuela it is sandwiched between Guyana and Venezuela. Venezuela’s coast line is on the Caribbean Sea.

Pampero or Industria Pampero C.A was founded in 1938 by Alejandro Hernandez. The are subisdiary of Diageo, This probably goes some way to explain how this rum is quite easily available in the UK and most of Europe. My first experience of this rum was in a UK bar and it is often one of the “better” (not saying much) available rums in more trendy establishments.

The Anejo Especial is a blend of Venezuelan rum aged upto 2 years in American Oak (Bourbon) Barrels. Pampero currently have four rums in their line up, this, a similarly aged White (Blanco) rum, the 1938 Seleccion and finally the Pampero Aniversario. A 70cl bottle of this rum will set you back around £18-22 in the UK.

As can be seen from the picture the rum comes in fairly standard bar style bottle (save for the horse emblem embossed on the neck). Whilst the rum comes with a screw top enclosure, the screw top is of very high standard. There is very little chance of the cap becoming detached from the bottle without the threads breaking first. Despite being from a mega corporation such as Diageo the bottle is entirely in Spanish. A HMRC duty sticker is not part of the label and is instead stuck on the rear of the bottle. I find this quite unusual. This is usually common amongst less commercial bottlers.

In the bottle the rum presents itself as gold rum. Similar in many ways to other Anejo’s such as Diplomatico and Havana Club’s anejo offerings. For those who don’t know anejo simply means aged (it is often used to describe rums aged between 2 and 5 years on its own). When poured the rum retains its colour. The nose is quite flowery and buttery. It has a little bit of the Havana twang but doesn’t exhibit the tobacco tones of the Havana Club Anejo Especial. It’s quite similar to the Diplomatico Anejo in terms of smell. The nose in many ways is quite boozy but at the same time delicate with hints of vanilla. It reminds me of a Bajan style rum. The Pampero Anejo Especial is not overly sweetened as many of these Central/South American rums tend to be, whilst there may be a little sugar added it doesn’t seem to have been adultered much by way of additives. On the nose at least it seems quite a clean rum.

Onto the tasting. The taste is fairly pleasant. Despite the relatively young age of the rum it doesn’t burn much at all when sipped. It’s really quite an easy going rum. There is a little burn and the finish lingers in the mouth giving a little spice. It’s quite a dry rum – again similar to a Bajan (think Seales 10 year old). It has quite a long finish and leaves notes of toffee and slight sugary caramel. These notes aren’t very distinct though it isn’t by any stretch of the imagination a particularly sweet or fruity rum. There is a little bit of banana and vanilla initially but isn’t in spades like some rums.

As a mixing rum its perfectly acceptable. To be honest often when I’m out and about it’s a welcome relief to see Pampero Anejo Especial behind the bar. However, despite this it isn’t a rum which I am going to stock regularly in my bar. Like so many rum’s in the £20 price bracket it is (as the price would suggest) bang average. It’s a relatively smooth if uncomplicated sipper and its pretty much the same as a mixer. It does both job’s well but there isn’t a lot shouting out at you in this rum to make you feel the need to buy it again.